Half-Life 3: The Meet Up
by StrangerGameMaster
Summary: Gordon and Alyx depart for the Borealis, the Aperture Science icebreaker, and Chell and Rattmann escape the Enrichment Center. Both parties undergo a sequence of confussing and disaster-filled events to join forces and defeat the Combine once and for all!


Hey, strange gamers! This is StrangerGameMaster and today I'm bringing you the prologue of "Half-Life 3: The Meet Up"!

Yup, I decided I would do this and to be honest, I feel very confident about this new story.

Before you start reading, I must explain to you how this works:

When the story begins, you will notice the name of a character as a title, this means the next part of the story will be told from that character's point of view. Said character's point of view will finish when you see a horizontal line, wich will have another character's name below it, changing the point of view.

Now, without further ado, let's get started!

* * *

**Half-Life 3: The Meet Up**

**Prologue: Incoming Projectiles!**

Gordon Freeman

Wow, that certainly was a moment.

Alyx and I were in the helicopter, headed for the Borealis. She was driving and I was in the back part of the vehicle questioning why she reacted like this.

Alyx's father, Eli Vance just died, in hands of a Combine Advisor (those damned bastards), and at first she seemed to mourn for it, but then she would just stand up, enter the helicopter and then turning to me and yelling "are you coming or not!?" That caught me off guard.

Her reaction was very weird in the fact that she would mourn for only a minute or so, and he was her father, for God's sake!

This was getting me worried about her, because she either was that mad because of her father's death, which would cause very irrational thinking for a long time, or she was hiding her grief, burying it deep inside her, which in turn would cause anyone to break down and fall into a far bigger depression that if the person in question would have fallen into if they would just let it flow.

Wait. Did I just say I was worried about her? Well… nobody ever said you can't worry about a friend… right?

I felt like I had to do something about this, I just had to. I walked into the cockpit and there she was, sitting at the pilot's seat (he, redundant), driving the chopper towards the coordinates that were supposed to be the location of the Borealis, the ship from Aperture Science that disappeared into nothingness a long time ago and was recently re-found by Dr. Judith Mossman, who apparently couldn't decide which team to fight for. Alyx had a serious expression on her face and seemed to not notice me when I came in.

"Alyx," I started, "are you OK?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Gordon," she replied, with a hint of anger in her voice, further worrying me. "I want to be left alone, is it too much?"

"Very well," I responded, "I'll leave you here." Certainly this was going completely downhill.

I sat again in the back part of our vehicle and glanced at the cockpit, feeling helpless at this situation.

I don't know how much time passed when I started to perceive that time was passing a lot slower. Then, I heard his voice.

"Doctor Freeman, what a pleasure to meet you again." Then he chuckled.

That very cryptic voice! I can't stand it! Every time I heard it I felt like I was going completely insane, it just tried too hard to sound human. Then I saw him, but we weren't in the chopper anymore, but at a little Resistance camp that seemed to be in the middle of a wheat field. We were in the outskirts of it and we could see, a few miles away, a city taken by Combine forces.

"I'm sorry that you have to go through this," said the mysterious man, with a hint of sarcasm. "It's a shame that you lost a key participant of your purpose. And also, it's a shame that your companion is acting in that way, isn't it?"

"But that's not why I'm here. I must inform you that your… trip will not go very smoothly, but that won't be too much trouble for you."

"This obstacle will reward at the end, by giving you a helper. She just came out of a long term imprisonment, but she will be useful, trust me."

What the hell was this… man talking about? The trip will not go smoothly? A helper? Long term imprisonment? This man seriously couldn't be any more mysterious.

"You and your companion will have a hard time after the accident, but the newcomer will pull you out of it, I assure you."

"Well, as my… restrictions say, I must leave now, but remember my words, Doctor Freeman, remember them." Then, he and the image around us faded away, leaving me in the helicopter once again.

I would often think that I was going crazy when I saw the man, but then I remembered how Eli told me he has seen him, too, and the fact that Alyx told her father what he commanded her.

What did all of this mean? It seems like I'm going to team up with another person, a woman, actually, because he referred to that person as she once. He also implied that our trip would have an accident, so what kind of accident?

I learned the answer to this question when the chopper's alarm went off and I heard Alyx screaming "incoming projectiles!"

* * *

Chell

I… finally… got… out… What now?

I was just outside of the little shack that the elevator led me to, looking at the infinite-looking wheat field that was in front of me.

How much time was I imprisoned? Did something important happen in the world while I was out? How much time passed since I got captured by that psychopath AI?

I figured those questions would be answered if I got to civilization, so I just started walking forward.

This field really did feel endless; I thought I was just walking straight for an hour or so.

Every single thing in that facility seemed to be insane in some way, even the AI's. Good thing I didn't dare opening my mouth when I was in there, or things would have gone a lot worse; then, there were those little "holes" in the middle of the test chambers that were the creepiest thing I ever saw in my life; and finally the song that the turrets sang when I was in the elevator, which I didn't understand at all.

Then there was the time matter, I had the body of an 18 years old girl, but I felt I was older than that, and all of the time I spent in Aperture felt like only hours, but I was sure that it was years, maybe decades.

I couldn't even remember anything from my 10th birthday up to the first time I woke up in the Enrichment Center. I couldn't even remember who my family was or what my surname was. I was completely alone now.

Wheatley said I suffered brain damage when I was asleep, but I didn't feel brain damaged at all, I jumped when he asked me to talk for two reasons, one being that I didn't wanna talk inside there and the other one, to fake brain damage so that he wouldn't enter in a murdering rampage and tried to kill me, which I assumed he would do if I talked, given the fact that GLaDOS was already in a murdering rampage and he looked like a part of her.

I think I must have been walking straight for several hours already when I stopped to catch my breath, and when I looked up, I saw a man in a suit far in the distance, who seemed to notice me and pointed at my right. I turned there and, far away, I saw a city. It was very far, but it was civilization. Finally!

I looked back at where the man was, but there was no trace of him. Confused, I looked at the city again and started walking.

After a few steps I heard a faint groan fairly close to me. I looked around to see if there was anything alive nearby, and at my back, I saw a figure rise from the ground. At first, I was happy to see a human form, but when it woke up, I saw its clothing covered in blood and its chest wide open, letting you see all of the person innards. Instead of hands, it had claws and had its head blocked with something that seemed part of it. It started walking slowly towards me, making all sorts of grunts and groans. I panicked and started running towards the city.

After running that much I noticed that the creature was very slow, and I turned into a jog so that it wouldn't catch me and I didn't get tired very fast.

While jogging, I noticed a helicopter flying above the city. It was apparently an enemy of the city, because a giant turret deployed when it got close enough and fired a pair of missiles at it, which hit their target. The chopper got hit at its side and started helplessly falling down, to finally crash down into the ground, nearby the city. Did I really want to go there? It was my only option for the moment, so I hoped that the helicopter was my enemy and the city my allies.

* * *

Barney Calhoun

What a god-damned day this was.

Gordon and Alyx just left in the helicopter towards the Borealis, but Eli just died.

I was with Dr. Isaac Kleiner in the morgue of the White Forest, besides Eli's body. We were both staring at him without saying a word.

I broke the silence saying "We can't let this hinder us in our mission."

"Yes," he answered, "we cannot let it, but this is just so sad. And Alyx didn't even have time to mourn for her father!"

"I know, but we have to help that duo complete their job, or they could fail at it."

"How are we supposed to help?"

"I don't know… Those god-damned Advisors! I want to rip them apart!"

"We better get out of here and let Eli alone."

"Yeah…"

We got out and I went straight to my quarters. I sat down in my bed and started thinking about this situation.

I was just mad at everything! How could we lose Eli that easily!? Those bastards are going to pay!

Dr. Kleiner was probably broadcasting our new discoveries about the borealis, as well as the really god-damned bad notice that was Eli's death. But I just wanted to disconnect from reality for a while.

Every moment made me think even more and more that we had to go after Gordon and Alyx right now. They wouldn't be able to complete their mission with just the two of them and with a depressed Alyx.

I realized I fell asleep when I heard the security alarm go off. I was wondering what happened now, while rushing through the door and corridors towards the briefing room were Dr. Kleiner and Dr. Magnusson were supposed to tell armed forces what the problem was. When I got there, there was a lot of people with all sorts of weapons in their hands, all of them were very unsettled and were worriedly discussing what could be the problem.

Then, Magnusson started through the speaker: "Attention, please!"

"We have received an automatic broadcast from Dr. Freeman and Miss Vance's helicopter. It was a distress signal, which pointed out that they were taken out of air by Combine missiles somewhere in Upper Michigan."

"Mister Calhoun will serve as a squad leader going towards their location. Calhoun," he said, talking directly at me, "we need you to report at the lab for more information about this matter."

"We all are very… affected by Doctor Vance's death, but we must go on. A war is not won by grief." And with that, the speaker shut off.

I went towards the lab for my mission briefing, and when I got there, Dr. Magnusson, Dr. Kleiner, who seemed very grave, and, surprisingly, Dog were waiting for me.

Magnusson started talking: "As you might already tell, we need you to lead a squad towards Dr. Freeman and Miss Vance, help them in their predicament and help them interest of their mission." It was like if he read my thoughts about helping Gordon and Alyx.

"Feel free to pick the team yourself. Also, you will take Dog with you, for reasons you might already know," I knew he was referring to the robot's fighting skills, "as well as Dr. Kleiner, he will aid the mission by what he does best, science, which has proven useful up to this point."

"Dog and Dr. Kleiner will be waiting for you at the docks." He closed his briefing as cold as he was.

"Yes, sir," I answered, ready to pick my team and part. When I was about to come out, though, Magnusson said "Oh! And… good luck out there." He seemed uncomfortable when he said that.

I turned back and said "Thank you," before I got out to pick my team.

I hoped Gordon and Alyx were OK…

* * *

Doug Rattmann

She escaped! Haha! Mission accomplished! But… there was someone that needed to get out still, me.

I had a plan, actually, which not only involved me escaping, but also to bring some things with me. Firstly, the Handheld Portal Device, I knew it only made portals in moon-related surfaces, but it could be tweaked, and I knew it would come in handy for the situation out there, which I was quite aware of. Secondly, I wanted to bring GLaDOS with me. Yup, that's right, GLaDOS. Why? Because she would be useful separated from Aperture Science's Robotic Core, helping against these beings that took our home.

I was headed for GLaDOS's chamber, which held both of my objectives, when I heard my Companion Cube talk to me. "How do you plan to take her? It's gonna be dangerous," he said.

"Remember the Super Discharge Device that I improvised in the last month?" I responded.

"Yes."

"If I'm correct, I just need to use it in her console and that will stun her for a while, allowing me to disassemble her core from the rest of the machine."

"Do you have it?"

"Yes, it's right here in my pocket," I said, pulling the tool out of my lab coat's pocket so that he would see it.

"It seems you have a very good plan. Good luck with that."

"Thank you."

"You will not leave me in this facility, right?"

"I never would."

When we finished talking, we were already at the gate that led to her chamber. I kicked it open and entered.

It seemed like I lightly startled her, but she looked at me and started talking. "Who do we have here? Oh, it's the squizofrenic scientist who decided to not test and hid around the Enrichment Center like a little chicken instead of facing his fate, which could completely different than he thought because of his condition."

"I'm escaping!" I yelled at her, ignoring her lies and tricks, "And you're coming with me, ma'am!"

"Very funny. Even if you had a way to extract me from here, I am not going to let you."

"So be it," and, leaving my Companion Cube at the entrance, I ran towards the middle of the chamber, where the portal gun was, and picked it up.

"Let me use the weapons that the moron left on me," she said, "even if he was a moron, he proved quite useful," and started flinging bombs at me.

I avoided them while I aimed towards the top of the staircase that led to her console, and fired a blue portal there, then the orange one on the floor, beside me. I jumped in and I was at the control room.

"Where are you going?" she started, "That will completely mess up your life! More than it is already!"

She couldn't throw any bombs at me where I was, so I got to work. I pulled out my Super Discharge Device, turned it on, waited for it to charge up and hit the discharge pole into the main computer.

GLaDOS got surrounded by rays of electricity and started trembling. A loud "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" was coming out of her speaker. After a few seconds, she passed out.

"Yes!" I celebrated. I got down again to pick her core up, which I easily unplugged from the machine.

"Well, friend o' mine," I said to my cube, "time to go!"

"We have to call the elevator first."

"I'm on it," I said as I approached the elevator controls on the wall, and operated them to make the elevator go down.

I grabbed my Cube and entered the capsule, and we went up.

The elevator I was in was sort of advanced, as you could set where you wanted to go, even if it was not on top or below you. When GLaDOS used the elevator to let Chell out, she made the elevator go to the little shack in the middle of nowhere, but when I did it, I set the destination to be the parking lots, which were at a city, controlled by Combine forces, but a city.

I watched, as the elevator doors opened, how the military was passing in front of me, protecting a vehicle that was going to their HQ. Then, my head started burning in pain.

It was so much pain that I fell on my knees and dropped everything I was carrying. The pain suddenly stopped, but when I looked up, I saw that everything was paralyzed. Then, I heard a voice.

"Doctor Rattmann."

What kind of voice was that? It sounded so real that I could discard the possibility of it being a hallucination, but at the same time it sounded like if it was pulled out from a nightmare.

"So you finally achieved your goal… Impressive."

After that, I got transported inside, presumably, the vehicle that I saw earlier. I was sitting in a bench with two people in front of me, which were tied up and watched by a pair of Combine soldiers. One of them was a man in his late twenties, wearing a Black Mesa HEV suit, he had a beard and wore a pair of glasses. The other one was a young brunette woman with short hair, she wore a pair of jeans and a jacket, which had two blood stains at the lower ribs, she had a holster with a pistol and a cheap necklace. Both of them seemed in a very bad mood (common in prisoners and hostages), but the woman seemed kinda pissed, actually. None of the people in the room seemed to notice me. The voice started talking again, this time with fewer echoes.

"Do you see this people?" This time I could locate the voice right at my left, I slowly turned to the source and I saw a man that could be around his fifties, wore a suit and tie, had pale green eyes and his manners were kinda off, they didn't seem human, at all…

"This duo has been caught flying outside the city and were taken down. Poor people, right?" Was it sarcasm what I was smelling? "I recommend that you go see them, you could help them, quite certainly, you could help them."

I didn't even know this man he was already telling me to go look for some people, which I didn't know either, in suicidal mode to the Combine HQ? Are you serious!?

"Don't worry, it won't be hard for you to get to them…"

"Ah! I forgot to mention, when you get to them you will also meet someone that you already know. If you're smart enough, you'll who I mean…"

"Also, that pain that you felt at the beginning of our communication tells me something that I was completely unaware of and amuses me a bit… Well, farewell, Doctor Rattmann, farewell," he said as he chuckled in a very creepy way.

Then I realized I was back at the parking lots of Aperture, sitting on the ground. That right there felt very realistic to be a hallucination, but it all seemed to be plucked out of a really, REALLY bad dream.

Also, that man, with his voice, gave me the creeps, but it seemed familiar in some way. I don't know, maybe just my imagination.

I brushed all of these thoughts out of my head and stood up, only to notice a patrol of Combine soldiers headed my way, pointing at me with their pulse riffles.

They surrounded me and one of them, who was an Overwatch Elite, said "On your knees. Put your hands were I can see them."

* * *

And that is it for the prologue! Oh, man! The G-man makes some appearances, being cryptic as always, the Combine have taken Gordon and Alyx, and both Chell and Rattmann have escaped Aperture Science. But aparently Doug has a secret that not even himself knows, the G-man knows it and it is related to him. What could it be?

I hope you enjoyed. Please leave your feedback, 'cause it helps me (a lot) to get better. It can be about anything (story, grammar, characters, events, whatever). The more feedback the better!

This is SGM, signin' out!


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